How do I freeze.....

A.Penny.Saved

I would like some help with freezing soup as in what to store it in, in order to freeze it.

I will not use plastic of any sort, either plastic bags or plastic containers. That is very important. Water expands when frozen so how can soup be frozen without breaking a container? I need to store quite large quantities of around 6 litres and possibly 12 litres in ready to use sizes of approx 1.2 litres a day.

This is for health reasons and the more I eat the better. Bone soup stock with tendons, ligaments and fat, all the good bits.

What could I use? Would ceramic or crockery survive freezing without breaking? Glass? Stainless steel?

Tenyearstogo

Can't you use plastic and leave a gap for the expansion?

I do that, never had any leaks.

krustylouise

Foil trays?

pumpkinlife

I freeze stuff in glass jars (preserving jars that are designed for temperature extremes). Water expands by about 10% in volume when frozen, so leave about 15% of the jar space free to be on the safe side and obviously make sure the food is complete;y cool before putting it in the jar.

You could also purchase uniform sized plastic containers and line them with foil to prevent contact with the food.

Or how about silicon loaf tins wrapped in paper? They would make nice uniform blocks to Tetris into your freezer drawers.

bluebag

i have frozen liquids in plastic for 25 years without a breakage or leak. Why do you think plastic would break?

Many plastics are made specifically for the freezer.

PasturesNew

Without using plastics, I'd be looking at saving/reusing tetrapaks such as fruit juice containers, while keeping an eye out for similar for sale new.

Alternatively I'd keep an eye out for freezer safe ceramic-ware, although shapes can be unsuitable for efficient freezer space-saving. Pyrex do some terrines with a lid at sub-£5.

Alternatively, I'd freeze it in mugs and take out 3-4 portions to make up 1.2 litres. Or even save my food tins, the ones with the white insides (e.g. tomatoes) and use those.

It's unclear why you're not keen on plastic: [a] against plastics for health/science reasons think they're insecure.

A.Penny.Saved

pumpkinlife wrote: »

I freeze stuff in glass jars (preserving jars that are designed for temperature extremes). Water expands by about 10% in volume when frozen, so leave about 15% of the jar space free to be on the safe side and obviously make sure the food is complete;y cool before putting it in the jar.

I wondered whether it continued to expand once it had begun to freeze and whether that could shatter glass. If you say that you've done it then it must be possible.

You could also purchase uniform sized plastic containers and line them with foil to prevent contact with the food.

aluminium foil I dislike almost as much as plastic. Thanks for posting the idea though.

Or how about silicon loaf tins wrapped in paper? They would make nice uniform blocks to Tetris into your freezer drawers.

This I like the sound of! Silicon should be more flexible and easy to unfreeze and it won't break with a quick temperature change. I could put it in boiling water to quickly unfreeze it. I think I remember seeing some silicon items in Home Bargains or Wilkos.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Without using plastics, I'd be looking at saving/reusing tetrapaks such as fruit juice containers, while keeping an eye out for similar for sale new.

Alternatively I'd keep an eye out for freezer safe ceramic-ware, although shapes can be unsuitable for efficient freezer space-saving. Pyrex do some terrines with a lid at sub-£5.

Alternatively, I'd freeze it in mugs and take out 3-4 portions to make up 1.2 litres. Or even save my food tins, the ones with the white insides (e.g. tomatoes) and use those.

It's unclear why you're not keen on plastic: [a] against plastics for health/science reasons think they're insecure.

[a] I have doubts that any plastic is really safe, a lot is still not known about the health implications of using plastic even though some is classified as safe. Much of it has hormone disrupting effects. Even the currently believed to be safe could later prove to be harmful so I don't want to take the risk. I'm eliminating it more and more from my food use and returning to more traditional safer methods. I don't act like a guinea pig, I don't behave like a guinea pig and I don't want to be treated like a guinea pig. That is how people are being treated with plastic and so many other things.

Anyway, thank you everyone for your suggestions. It gives me many ideas and areas to explore.

A.Penny.Saved

For reference, if anyone else wants to know in future. I got myself some silicon loaf baking containers from home bargains for £1.99 each. I did purchase the cake baking container first but when I got them home, they were far too large to get into my freezer. Only one would fit per freezer tray which isn't what I needed because I wanted each tray to be quite full.

I returned them and swapped them for the loaf baking containers which fit quite nicely.

The silicon loaf containers fit 1.3 litres to the top and about 1050ml comfortably to a reasonable level. They are approx 13cmx27cmx7cm to the lips and 9.5x23x6cm inside. I can get 4 into one of my freezer trays.

anotheruser

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

I have doubts that any plastic is really safe, a lot is still not known about the health implications of using plastic even though some is classified as safe.

Much of it has hormone disrupting effects. Even the currently believed to be safe could later prove to be harmful so I don't want to take the risk. I'm eliminating it more and more from my food use and returning to more traditional safer methods.

Don't own a TV or mobile phone then! The results of the waves emitted to and from these devices is still not known, even though they are classified as safe.

Please provide a source for your quote of "Much of it has hormone disrupting effects". I'd also be interested to know how long something needs to be used for you to see as "safe". Tupperware has been around for decades and we've not seen any detrimental effects from the use of it.

Also, I wouldn't use Silicon... that's a form of plastic which has seen a recent surge for use in cooking. Harder plastic has been around much longer.

HOWEVER, I do understand your concerns as recently there has been stirrings of people questioning microwavable meals and the plastics used there. However you shouldn't be too concerned as anything that shows immediate affects to health isn't passed for public use.

Seakay

anotheruser wrote: »

Don't own a TV or mobile phone then! The results of the waves emitted to and from these devices is still not known, even though they are classified as safe.

Please provide a source for your quote of "Much of it has hormone disrupting effects". I'd also be interested to know how long something needs to be used for you to see as "safe". Tupperware has been around for decades and we've not seen any detrimental effects from the use of it.

Also, I wouldn't use Silicon... that's a form of plastic which has seen a recent surge for use in cooking. Harder plastic has been around much longer.

HOWEVER, I do understand your concerns as recently there has been stirrings of people questioning microwavable meals and the plastics used there. However you shouldn't be too concerned as anything that shows immediate affects to health isn't passed for public use.

OP asked for help for a specific situation giving certain parameters; their reasons for those parameters are not up for mockery or debate. If you don't have helpful suggestions which answer the question asked then please go to the place for debate which is The Money Savers Arms.

peachyprice

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

I wondered whether it continued to expand once it had begun to freeze and whether that could shatter glass. If you say that you've done it then it must be possible.

aluminium foil I dislike almost as much as plastic. Thanks for posting the idea though.


This I like the sound of! Silicon should be more flexible and easy to unfreeze and it won't break with a quick temperature change. I could put it in boiling water to quickly unfreeze it. I think I remember seeing some silicon items in Home Bargains or Wilkos.


[a] I have doubts that any plastic is really safe, a lot is still not known about the health implications of using plastic even though some is classified as safe. Much of it has hormone disrupting effects. Even the currently believed to be safe could later prove to be harmful so I don't want to take the risk. I'm eliminating it more and more from my food use and returning to more traditional safer methods. I don't act like a guinea pig, I don't behave like a guinea pig and I don't want to be treated like a guinea pig. That is how people are being treated with plastic and so many other things.

Anyway, thank you everyone for your suggestions. It gives me many ideas and areas to explore.

And silicon, that has been around even less time than other plastics is safe because?